Andre Ward dominates Edwin Rodriguez

Edwin “La Bomba” Rodriguez barely made weight for his super middleweight fight with Andre “S.O.G.” Ward. Then he failed to carry his weight in the ring. Rodriguez got off to a strong start, but was otherwise outclassed technically and outfoxed mentally over the final 10 rounds as Ward won by unanimous decision before a crowd of 4,158 that included Mike Tyson and Sugar Ray Leonard at Citizens Bank Arena.

Edwin “La Bomba” Rodriguez barely made weight for his super middleweight fight with Andre “S.O.G.” Ward. Then he failed to carry his weight in the ring.

Rodriguez got off to a strong start, but was otherwise outclassed technically and outfoxed mentally over the final 10 rounds as Ward won by unanimous decision before a crowd of 4,158 that included Mike Tyson and Sugar Ray Leonard at Citizens Bank Arena.

“It was a tough, rugged fight,” said Rodriguez, his checks red and swollen from absorbing too many blows over 12 rounds and a cut near his left eye courtesy of a head butt with time dwindling down.

“There was a lot of clinching, a lot of dirty tactics. I was trying to do the same to him; trying to match him in the things he was doing his whole career. It didn't really work out for me too well.”

The judges scored it 116-108, 117-107, 116-108. The T&G had it 116-108.

A two-time national amateur champion who began studying the sweet science in his adopted hometown of Worcester as a teen, Rodriguez had won his first 24 fights – 16 by knockout – since turning pro five years ago.

Ward, the reigning WBA champion and acknowledged No. 2 pound-for-pound boxer in the world, wasn't at his best in his return to the ring after a 14-month layoff following shoulder surgery. But he was more than good enough to improve to 27-0-0.

The Bay Area native, now 29, hasn't lost a fight since he was 12 years old.

“Andre Ward was able to beat me today,” said Rodriguez, a flat-brimmed Red Sox cap perched on his battered head. “He's a good fighter and does a lot of things well, but I don't think he's unbeatable.”

But Ward remains undefeated and while he likely didn't need any help, he got plenty from Rodriguez, who displayed a lack of discipline before and during the fight.

Rodriguez was fined $200,000 after coming in two pounds over the 168 limit during Friday's weigh-in. He barely slipped under a brokered weight of 180 Saturday morning.

All the effort exerted trying lose weight – some of the extra poundage attributable to a fun-filled family vacation to Florida in the summer – eventually caught up to him.

“In the middle of the fight I felt like I ran out of energy, maybe it was because of the weight I lost or whatever,” Rodriguez said. “Then in the last four rounds I felt like I got a second wind back.”

Ward, a 2004 Olympic gold medalist, was hammered a couple of times, but he was never nailed with enough regularity to make anyone even consider the possibility of an upset win.

It was more of the same with the jab. Ward threw 207, connecting on 42 percent. Rodriguez threw 117, connecting on 16 percent.

As for power punches, Rodriguez threw 272 to Ward's 319. But he once again failed to find his target, landing 24 percent to Ward's 41.

Ward not only hit Rodriguez in the head, he got inside his opponent's head.

“The first four, six rounds I was fighting his fight,” Rodriguez said. “I was being rugged on the inside, pushing him back and letting him know I wasn't going to be pushed around in there. I wasn't going to be pushed around; I wasn't going to take anything from him.

“In a way I think I was able to do that, but in the end he was the better man tonight.”

The fight, like the weekend, had a moment of controversy when both fighters were docked two points in the fourth round for roughhousing by referee Jack Reiss.

“We've got two highly trained athletes full of adrenaline and emotion,” Reiss said. “We wanted to penalize both to settle them down and make a competitive fight, which it was.”

Reiss took the rare step of imparting such harsh penalties early to create a situation where the next point deduction would lead to a disqualification. He also plans to recommend both fighters are fined for their actions.

“We just got a little wild in there,” Rodriguez said. “He hit me after the referee said to stop and I hit him back.”

Again, a show of bravado rather than discipline.

Rodriguez will now be moving up a weight class, to light heavyweight. That has a limit of 175 pounds, which, incidentally, he wouldn't have made this weekend.

So there is clearly some changes that need to be made moving forward.

“Edwin will fight for a light heavyweight title by 2014,” his promoter, Lou DiBella, predicted. “There are some lessons that come out of this fight for (trainer) Ronnie (Shields) once we get Edwin into the gym and also we're going to talk to Edwin about some personal conditioning work.”

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